Chapter 457 Paralysis (Supplement)

Ps: I went out to the Terracotta Warriors and Huaqing Pool at 7 o'clock this morning, and watched "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" in the evening. The relevant updates have been set to be automatically released, or two updates...

As the speed slowed down, Mutsu's own maneuvering and evasion capabilities declined significantly. Two 1,000-pound bombs were hit on the rear deck again. One fell into the large hole in the rear deck, and the other was near the No. 4 turret. Explosion. Finally, the quality of the armored belt here was relatively reliable, and there was no big explosion like the one in the No. 3 turret.

Not counting the SBD attack alone, TBF torpedo planes also rushed to launch a desperate attack on Mutsu. In just 3 minutes, 5 or 6 planes successfully dropped torpedoes and rushed towards Mutsu. Captain Yamasumi Sadjiro He commanded Mutsu to turn left and right, but he couldn't evade them all. Moreover, unlike aircraft carriers, Mutsu was surrounded by battleships that couldn't block his guns, and the destroyer's small body couldn't cover up the huge land mass. Austrian number, in the end he could only rely on his own defensive strength to hold on.

Horikichi could clearly see from the Nagato that the Mutsu first shot up a water column in the middle of the port side, and then 2 water columns shot up from the starboard bow and stern. It was obvious that a total of 3 torpedoes were hit by the Mutsu. However, he couldn't be distracted and pay too much attention to Mutsu. The Nagato was also the focus of the US military's attack. In the chaos, it ate 2 bombs and 7 or 8 anti-aircraft guns were leveled. Fortunately, no other major damage was caused. At the same time, the Tirpitz suffered a bomb, the Kongo-class battleship Hiei suffered a torpedo, and the other ships suffered many near-misses.

The losses of the fleet this time were really not small, but the losses of the American aircraft were also not small. When they concentrated their efforts to attack Mutsu, the remaining aircraft lost the cover of the fighter jets and were strangled by the superior Japanese and German fighter jets. They exchanged them again. The ratio was forcibly improved, and when Brooke led the U.S. Hainan Airlines fleet to finally leave, there were only 39 aircraft in the 128-aircraft fleet, and 89 aircraft were lost. TBF once again became a disaster-ridden aircraft - only 9 of 48 aircraft escaped, and The loss of Axis aircraft also reached 18. In addition, three aircraft were seriously damaged and could no longer be used after landing. The overall combat loss exceeded 20 aircraft for the first time. When the US military planes retreated, the exhausted Japanese and German planes stopped pursuing them and returned to the mothership to land supplies as soon as possible.

Kusaka Renyi reported with a sad face: "Sir, the situation in Mutsu is very serious. Three torpedoes were hit, more than 4,000 tons of water were taken in, the side was tilted 13 degrees, and the speed dropped to only 12 knots..."

"Is the control still flexible?"

"Barely okay."

Horikichi nodded, closed his eyes in pain, and seemed to be making a major decision. After a moment, he made up his mind and said: "In this case, send a telegram to Yamasumi Sadjiro and ask him to lead Mutsu in a desperate attack on the Gatun Locks!"

Kusaka Renyi's eyes widened, as if he had heard the most unbelievable words, and he couldn't help shouting: "Sir, this is the Mutsu! It is a symbol of the national spirit! He can still be saved!"

"It's hopeless!" Horikichi smiled bitterly, "Do you think the Americans will let him go? There will definitely be a wave of air strikes before the sun sets today. What can Mutsu do with a speed of only 12 knots? Do you believe he can? Escape?"

"this……"

"A desperate attack is better than dying in vain, carry out the order..."

"Sir, you have to think twice." Caolu Renyi was filled with tears and in pain, and several young staff couldn't help crying.

"I will bear any responsibility if I execute the order!"

Yamasumi Sadjiro couldn't believe his eyes after receiving the order message, but the Nagato's signal trooper played the standard semaphore with an unquestionable gesture.

At 13:18, the Mutsu's port side actively injected water to prepare for forced leveling and advance. After injecting 1,300 tons of seawater, the tilt angle returned to 6 degrees. Seeing that it had not leveled off yet, Yamasumi Sadjiro gritted his teeth and added another 400 tons. At this time, The Mutsu draft has completely exceeded the warning standard. Not to mention the level 12 wind and waves, even a level 6 wind and wave may completely cover the main gun. If it sails in the windy and rough North Atlantic, the 18-story-high bridge may be They will be half submerged by the waves.

The sailors threw away everything that could be thrown away in order to reduce the weight of the warship. Various facilities, tables, chairs, beds, and luggage were all thrown into the sea, but in the face of nearly 7,000 tons of seawater, these were just insignificant points. In the end, Yamazumi Sada Jiro ordered the release of fuel. After more than 2,000 tons of heavy oil was discharged, the draft of the ship was finally reduced a little. Under everyone's attention, it slowly entered the ship channel and rushed towards the Gatun Lock. Originally, Mutsu's speed could be reached 12 knots, which was further reduced to only 11.6 knots after water injection.

Tsukahara Er43, who was in charge of Shokaku, let out a long sigh after receiving the intelligence: He said yesterday that he would be prepared to lose 1-2 warships, but even he himself did not expect it to be the Mutsu. He always thought it would be It is the Kongo-class that is older and has worse defensive capabilities. Unexpectedly, the four ships of the Kongo-class are still in good condition, but the Mutsu has to bid farewell to the combined fleet in advance.

The U.S. and German troops fighting in the distance did not see the air raids and fighting on the sea. At first, everyone watched in horror as the Mutsu rushed toward the ship channel. Soon the German soldiers cheered, thinking that Mutsu was alone in providing close-in defense. Range artillery support. The U.S. military was scared at first, and many soldiers instinctively wanted to abandon their positions and flee. However, a staff officer reminded Ross that the Mutsu driving condition was very wrong. The superstructure was filled with smoke, many facilities were blown into strange shapes by bombs, and the third turret was missing. And flying, coupled with the slow speed, he came to a shocking conclusion:

"He...he is going to sink...sink...Mutsu is going to sink..." He spoke too fast and his words were a bit incoherent, but Ross obviously understood the second half of the sentence, "Stop him! Stop him! He is going to block the waterway!"

But what can be used to stop such a huge ship from moving forward? Ross didn't even have a decent 155mm howitzer in his hand, and the tank shells were not even enough to tickle the armor belt.

Brook had just landed in Nicaragua and had not had time to check the weather when he heard that Mutsu might use self-sinking to block the waterway. He was also panicked when he heard that this was a 43,000-ton giant ship. If it sank into the lock, it would be very troublesome to salvage it in the future. He instinctively wanted to stop it, but there was no time at all. The planes that had just returned needed to replenish fuel and ammunition, and the newly arrived fleet also needed to replenish fuel and ammunition. At the same time, they had to design and plan the action plan. It would take at least 2 hours to launch an air strike.

"Ah!" He punched a plane in pain, and the ground crew looked at him with sympathy - the loss of the Navy Air Force was as heavy as that of the Army Air Force! And the commander required the launch of the fourth wave of the one-way attack before 4 o'clock!